1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a call related information system. More particularly, it relates to a call related information detector/receiver system at a customer premises equipment which is capable of synchronization or other data transfer over a telephone line with another call related information detector/receiver at another customer premises equipment.
2. Background of Related Art
Call related information services such as Calling Identity Delivery (Caller ID) allow a user to receive information identifying an incoming caller before an incoming call is answered. Typical Caller ID information includes the telephone number and/or household or business name of the calling party. Based on received Caller ID information, a user of a conventional telephone answering device equipped with a call related information detector/receiver can determine the identity of an incoming caller before answering the incoming call, or the identity of a caller who recorded a voice message on a voice messaging system equipped with a call related information detector/receiver.
Basic (i.e., Type I) call related information such as Caller ID information is transmitted from a local telephone company to the desired called party while the called party""s telephone is in a hung-up or on-hook state, e.g., between the first and second rings.
Advanced call related information services (i.e., Type II) allow a user to receive call related information regarding an incoming caller while their telephone is in use, i.e., in an off-hook condition. For instance, with Caller ID Call Waiting (CIDCW) service, the called party can receive Caller ID information (e.g., a telephone number and/or household or business name) regarding an incoming call from a third party while the called party""s telephone is already in an established telephone call with another party on the same telephone line.
An example of a call related information detector/receiver system is shown in FIG. 4.
In particular, FIG. 4 shows a relevant portion of a conventional telephone device 11 including a call related information detector/receiver 25. The call related information detector/receiver detects and receives call related information, e.g., the telephone number and/or household or business name, regarding a calling party. The currently received call related information is displayed by a controller 190 on a display 27.
Received call related information is stored in a call related information log 500. Typically, the call related information log is formed in non-volatile memory such as Flash memory accessible by the controller 190 and/or the call related information detector/receiver 25. The call related information log 500 is typically of limited length, and thus maintains a log of the latest received call related information, the oldest logged call related information being replaced with the newest. To view the logged call related information, a user typically activates up or down scrolling keys 502, and the controller 190 retrieves the previous or next entry of call related information in the call related information log 500, and displays the same on the display 27.
Currently, in order to access logged call related information, it must be viewed directly on a local display 27. Moreover, because the display 27 is local to the customer premises equipment which initially received the call related information, the user must be in close or near proximity to that equipment to view the call related information. However, in some instances, it may be desirable for the user to retrieve the logged call related information at a location remote from the telephone answering device, e.g., through the public switched telephone network (PSTN). Unfortunately, conventional call related information detector/receiver devices require the user to return to the device which initially received the call related information.
This is particularly the case to review information contained in a large number of the entries in the call related information log 500 of a particular customer premises equipment device. However, in today""s mobile environment, a user may not always be local to their telephone receiving calls for them, and therefore may not be able to utilize logged call related information when required. Moreover, if away from their telephone for an extended period of time, the oldest call related information entries may be forever lost without the user having the opportunity to review the oldest entries, particularly if the call related information log 500 has a small capacity.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved technique and apparatus which allows a user to remotely retrieve call related information received by another customer premises equipment.
In accordance with the principles of the present invention, a call related information remote access module comprises a call related information detector/receiver module adapted to detect and receive call related information regarding a calling party over a telephone line from a central office. A data synchronization module is adapted to transmit logged call related information detected and received by the call related information detector/receiver module back to another call related information detector/receiver module.
A method of transferring call related information from one customer premises equipment to another customer premises equipment over a telephone line in accordance with another aspect of the present invention comprises establishing a telephone call between a first call related information detector/receiver system and a second call related information detector/receiver system. Previously received call related information logged at the first call related information detector/receiver system is transmitted to the second call related information detector/receiver system through the telephone call.